Localytics released research Tuesday morning summarizing new iOS and Android device activations over the Christmas holiday. Unfortunately due to an error, the report was partially incorrect and we sincerely regret our mistake. While re-compiling the report, others released research similar to our corrected report. Rather than re-issue the same report, we expanded the study to segment new activation rates across the top 20 countries.

Localytics provides mobile analytics to top app publishers across over 200 million devices. A key metric tracked by publishers is how many new devices, or customers, use their applications. By calculating the number of new devices across its entire publisher base, Localytics can estimate the growth of iPhones, iPads, Android phones and other devices.

Localytics used the top 20 countries for mobile devices between December 1 and 20 to establish a baseline. The average daily activation rate for this period was compared to the average for December 25 and 26, to allow for devices given on Christmas to be activated the next day. The following chart summarizes the results.

Among these top 20 countries for mobile devices, Localytics saw a huge increase in both Apple iOS and Android activations over the Christmas holiday, with significant regional variation. The UK, US and Canada registered the highest growth rates, followed by other European and Latin American countries. Lower rates were seen in many Asian countries were Christmas is not as widely celebrated.

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Brian Suthoff is a Co-Founder of Localytics and the VP of Strategy and Business Development. He has more than 25 years of industry experience in enterprise mobile app analytics and marketing, mobile advertising, and both mobile and online data networking.